Quality Report Tool

The Quality Report Tool (QRT), a voice-quality and general problem-reporting tool for Cisco Unified IP Phones, acts as a service that allows users to easily and accurately report audio and other general problems with their IP phone. QRT automatically loads with the Cisco Unified Communications Manager installation, and the Cisco Extended Functions (CEF) service supports it. (For more information about the Cisco Extended Functions service, refer to the Cisco Unified Serviceability Administration Guide.)

As system administrator, you can enable QRT functionality by creating, configuring, and assigning a softkey template to associate the QRT softkey on a user IP phone. You can choose from two different user modes, depending upon the amount of user interaction with QRT that is desired.

Note The system gives users with administrator privileges the authorization to configure QRT and view the reports.

This chapter provides the following information about configuring and using the QRT feature:

Configuration Checklist for QRT

The Quality Report Tool (QRT), a voice-quality and general problem-reporting tool for Cisco Unified IP Phones, acts as a service that allows users to easily and accurately report audio and other general problems with their IP phone. QRT automatically loads with the Cisco Unified Communications Manager installation, and the Cisco Extended Functions (CEF) service supports it. (For more information about the Cisco Extended Functions service, refer to the Cisco Unified Serviceability Administration Guide.)

As system administrator, you can enable QRT functionality by creating, configuring, and assigning a softkey template to associate the QRT softkey on a user IP phone. You can choose from different user modes, depending upon the amount of user interaction with QRT that is desired.

Add the new softkey template to the user phones by using the Phone Configuration window.

Note You can assign the common device configuration to the phone configuration if you are using common device configuration for the softkey. Alternatively, you can add the softkey individually to each phone.

Introducing Quality Report Tool

When you install Cisco Unified Communications Manager, the Cisco Extended Functions service installs and loads the QRT functionality on the Cisco Unified Communications Manager server.

Then, as system administrator, you enable the QRT feature through the use of softkey templates and define how the feature will work in your system by configuring system parameters and setting up Cisco Unified Serviceability tools. You can then create, customize, and view phone problem reports by using the QRT Viewer application. (The system includes the QRT Viewer application as part of the Real-Time Monitoring Tool. See the "Using the QRT Viewer" section for more information.)

You can configure QRT availability for up to four different call states and choose from two different user modes. The user modes determine the level of user interaction that is enabled with QRT and allow either detailed voice-quality reports or more general phone problem reports and relevant statistics. (See the "Extended Menu Choices" section for more information.)

When users experience problems with their IP phones, they can invoke this feature by pressing the QRT softkey on their Cisco Unified IP Phone during one of the following call states:

•Connected

•Connected Conference

•Connected Transfer

•On Hook

From a supported call state, and using the appropriate problem classification category, users can then choose the reason code that best describes the problem that they are experiencing with their IP phone. See the "Problem Classification Categories and Reason Codes" section for specific information about problem categories, reason codes, and supported call states.

The Quality Report Tool comprises several key components. The following sections provide information about these components and the architecture of the QRT feature:

•Service—Cisco Extended Functions service for collecting and managing user reports. It also handles the user interface on the IP phone as well as notifying Cisco RIS Data Collector for alerts and issuing SNMP traps.

•Viewer Application—The QRT Viewer application, which is included as part of the trace collection feature in the Cisco Real-Time Monitoring Tool (RTMT), allows you to filter, format, and view generated reports. Reports automatically open in the QRT Viewer when you view a trace file that includes QRT information.

The Cisco Extended Functions service interfaces with the phone by using the XML services interface (XSI) over skinny protocol (a protocol that is used between a Cisco Unified IP Phone and Cisco Unified Communications Manager) and the Quick Byte Encoding protocol (a protocol that is used between the Cisco CTIManager and TSP/JTAPI).

When a user presses the QRT softkey, QRT opens the device and presents up to four different screens that display problem categories and associated reason codes to obtain user feedback.

After the user chooses the option that best describes the problem, the system logs the feedback in the XML file; the system then issues alarms to notify the Cisco RIS Data Collector to generate alerts and SNMP traps. When QRT detects that user interaction is complete, it then closes the device.

Note The actual information that is logged depends upon the user selection and whether the destination device is a Cisco Unified IP Phone.

Figure 33-1 shows an illustration of the Cisco Extended Functions service architecture.

Figure 33-1 Using the Cisco Extended Functions Service Architecture

Cisco CTIManager Interface (QBEHelper)

The QBEHelper library provides the interface that allows the Cisco Extended Functions service to communicate with a configured Cisco CTIManager.

Cisco Unified Communications Manager Database Interface (DBL Library)

The DBL library provides the interface that allows the Cisco Extended Functions service to perform queries on various devices that are configured and registered in the Cisco Unified Communications Manager database.

Screen Helper and Dictionary

The screen helper of the Cisco Extended Functions service reads the XML dictionary files and creates Document Object Model (DOM) objects for all installed locales when the CEF service starts. The system uses these DOM objects for constructing XSI screens that the Cisco Unified IP Phone needs.

Redundancy Manager

When multiple Cisco Extended Functions are active within a Cisco Unified Communications Manager cluster, the redundancy manager uses an algorithm to determine which CEF service is active and which is the backup CEF.The Redundancy Manager uses the lowest IP address of the server that is running the CEF service as the active service. The remaining CEF services serve as backup services.

DB Change Notifier

The DB Change Notifier handles all the database change notifications, such as service parameter changes, trace parameter changes, alarm configuration changes, and status changes of other Cisco Extended Functions services in the cluster, and reports the changes to the CEF service.

SDI Trace and Alarm

The Cisco Extended Functions service uses the SDI Trace and Alarm libraries. The libraries generate traces and alarms to the Event Viewer. The alarm library publishes information about the CEF service to Syslog, SNMP, and the Cisco RIS Data Collector service. For more information about traces and alarms, refer to the Cisco Unified Serviceability Administration Guide.

Multiple Cisco Extended Functions Applications in a Cluster

If multiple Cisco Extended Functions services are active within a Cisco Unified Communications Manager cluster, CEF uses an algorithm to determine which service should be active and to order the remaining as backups.The CEF application with the lowest IP address becomes active. The service with the next lowest IP address becomes the backup to the active service. Any remaining services act as backups to each other, beginning with the service with the next lowest IP address. If you add any new services to the cluster, CEF restarts the algorithm to determine which service will be active.

Note When a Cisco Extended Functions service gets started in a cluster, the CEF service with the lowest IP address becomes active.This process may cause service interruption for approximately 2 minutes.

To verify the directory status and Cisco Extended Functions service registration status to the Cisco CTIManager, use the Real-Time Monitoring Tool as described in the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Real-Time Monitoring Tool Administration Guide.

Note You must also configure the security service parameter "Cluster Security Mode CAPF Phone Port" to secure a TLS connection to CTI, giving it a value of 1. You can do this from System > Enterprise Parameters in Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration. Refer to "Enterprise Parameters Configuration" in the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration Guide.

How to Use QRT

After you properly install and configure QRT, the QRT softkey can be configured on certain Cisco Unified IP Phone models. See the "System Requirements for QRT" section for the IP phone models that are supported with QRT.

Note The Cisco Unified Communications Manager Standard User template does not include the QRT softkey. You must enable QRT functionality and make it available to users through the use of a QRT softkey. To do this, create, configure, and assign the QRT softkey from Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration. See the "Configuring the QRT Feature" section for information about setting up the softkey template.

The following sections describe the user interaction features with QRT:

Extended Menu Choices

Extended menu choices allow a user to interact with QRT and provide additional details regarding the phone problem that they are reporting. You can choose to enable extended menu choices or provide users with a more passive interface, depending upon the amount of information that you want users to submit.

From the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Service Parameters Configuration window, configure the user interface mode for QRT from the following options:

•Silent Mode—In this mode, the user does not get presented with extended menu choices. When the user presses the QRT softkey, the system collects the streaming statistics and logs the report without additional user interaction.

The system supports silent mode only when the IP phone is in the Connected, Connected Conference, or Connected Transfer call state.

Figure 33-4 shows an example of the QRT display as it appears in silent mode.

Figure 33-4 Submitting Voice Quality Feedback in Silent Mode

•Interview Mode—In this mode, the user gets presented with extended menu choices, which allow additional user input that is related to audio quality on the IP phone (see the "Problem Classification Categories and Reason Codes" section for the applicable reason codes). This mode also allows the user to report other, non-audio-related problems such as the phone rebooting or the inability to make calls.

The system supports interview mode only when the IP phone is in the Connected or On Hook call state.

Figure 33-5 shows an example of the QRT display as it appears when the QRT softkey is pressed while the phone is on hook and in interview mode.

Figure 33-5 QRT Phone Interface - On Hook, Interview Mode Display

Note Ensure that you configure the QRT softkey only for the supported call states.

Problem Classification Categories and Reason Codes

The following tables show the problem categories and corresponding reason codes that users can choose when they report problems with their IP phones:

•Additional options become available after you configure extended menu choices.

•Users can choose only one reason code per category, per problem.

•Each problem category becomes available only when the IP phone is in the supported call state.

Table 33-2 shows the supported call states and the reason codes that are available for the "Problems with current call" category.

Table 33-2 Problem Category—Problems with Current Call

Problem Category

Supported Call States

Reason Codes

Statistics

Problems with current call

•Connected

•Connected Conference

•Connected Transfer

•I hear echo

•The remote end hears echo

•Choppy audio

•Robotic sound

•Long delays

•Low volume

•The remote end experiences low volume

•I can't hear the remote end

•The remote end can't hear me

The system collects streaming statistics from the source and destination devices.

Note Source device/IP phone refers to the device on which the QRT softkey gets pressed. For example, "source" and "destination" in this case do not refer to the calling party and called party in a connected call.

Figure 33-6 shows an example of the phone display as it appears after the QRT softkey is pressed on an IP phone in the connected state. This menu allows the user to provide additional details before submitting a problem with the current phone call.

Figure 33-6 Reporting Problem with the Current Call

Table 33-3 shows the supported call state and the reason codes that are available for the "Problems with last call" category.

Table 33-3 Problem Category—Problems with Last Call

Problem Category

Supported Call States

Reason Codes

Statistics

Problems with last call

•On Hook

•I heard echo

•The remote end heard echo

•Choppy audio

•Robotic sound

•Long delays

•Low volume on my end

•Low volume on the remote end

•I could not hear the remote end

•The remote end could not hear me

•The call dropped

The system collects streaming statistics from the source device.

Figure 33-7 shows an example of the phone display as it appears after the user selects the "Problems with last call" category. This menu allows the user to provide additional details before submitting a problem report for the last phone call.

Figure 33-7 Reporting Problem with the Last Call

Table 33-4 shows the supported call state that is available for the "Phone recently rebooted" category. No associated reason codes exist for this category.

Table 33-4 Problem Category—Phone Recently Rebooted

Problem Category

Supported Call States

Reason Codes

Statistics

Phone recently rebooted

•On Hook

None

Figure 33-8 shows an example of the phone display after the user chooses the "Phone recently rebooted" category. The system logs user feedback.

Figure 33-8 Reporting Problem with Phone That Recently Rebooted

Table 33-5 shows the supported call state and the reason codes that are available for the "I can't make calls" category.

Table 33-5 Problem Category—I Can't Make Calls

Problem Category

Supported Call States

Reason Codes

Statistics

I can't make calls

•On Hook

•I get a busy tone

•I get a fast busy tone

•I get dial tone after dialing digits

•I hear silence after dialing

•I don't get dial tone

Figure 33-9 shows an example of the phone display as it appears after the user chooses the "I can't make calls" category.

Figure 33-9 Reporting Problem with I Can't Make Calls

Note QRT collects information from various sources, such as the source IP phone, the destination IP phone, the Cisco RIS Data Collector, the Cisco Unified Communications Manager database, and the user. "Source" and "destination" in this case do not refer to the calling party and called party in a connected call. See the "QRT Reports" section for detailed information about the fields that the phone problem report includes.

•As system administrator, you must create, configure, and assign softkey templates to enable the QRT softkey feature on IP phones.

•Ensure that you configure the QRT softkey only for the supported call states.

•The system makes the extended menu choices option available only when the "Display extended menu choices" service parameter is set to True; it provides support for the "Problems with current call" category.

•If another application feature (such as Cisco Call Back or Cisco Unified Communications Manager Assistant) or a function key (such as Settings, Directories, or Messages) is invoked while the user is interacting with QRT, or if the user does not complete the QRT selection, the system can overwrite the QRT display. In this case, the system forces the device into a wait state, which prevents QRT from completing the interaction and then closes the device.

Note Because unattended devices consume large amounts of resources and could impact CTI performance, the system configures QRT to regularly check for opened devices. You cannot modify these system settings.

•Phone that is running SIP that is configured to use UDP as the transport, instead of TCP, will not support the "device data pass-through" functionality. QRT requires the pass-through functionality, so QRT does not support these UDP-configured phones that are running SIP.

•The Quality Report Tool supports IPv6 if the device uses an IP Addressing Mode of IPv4 Only or IPv4 and IPv6 (dual-stack mode). Users with phones with an IP Addressing Mode of IPv6 Only cannot report audio and other problems by pressing the QRT softkey on the phone. In addition, the QRT report does not include the streaming statistics for a phone that has an IP Addressing Mode of IPv6 Only. For more information on IPv6, refer to the "Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6)" section on page 25-1.

Note If users require the QRT feature to display (softkeys and messages on the IP phone) in any language other than English, verify that the locale installer is installed before configuring QRT. Refer to the Cisco Unified Communications Operating System Administration Guide for more information.

Configuring the QRT Feature

For successful configuration of the QRT feature, review the steps in Table 33-1, QRT Configuration Checklist, perform the configuration requirements, activate the Cisco Extended Functions service, and set the service parameters.

The following sections provide configuration information for enabling QRT:

If you alternatively configured the softkey template in the common device configuration, from the Common Device Configuration field, choose the common device configuration that contains the new softkey template.

Activating the Cisco Extended Functions Service for QRT

Follow this procedure to activate the Cisco Extended Functions service for use with the QRT feature.

Procedure

Step 1 From the Navigation drop-down list box in Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration, located in the upper, right corner of the window, choose Cisco Unified Serviceability and click Go.

Step 3 From the Server drop-down list box, choose the Cisco Unified Communications Manager server on which you want to activate the Cisco Extended Functions service.

Step 4 Check the Cisco Extended Functions check box.

Step 5 Click Save.

The CEF activation status changes from deactivated to activated.

Tip You can check the activation status of the Cisco Extended Functions service from Cisco Unified Serviceability by choosing Tools > Control Center - Feature Services. Look for Cisco Extended Functions; if the Cisco Extended Functions service is active, it displays as Activated.

c. Streaming Statistics Polling Frequency (seconds)—Designates the number of seconds to wait between each poll:

•The value ranges between 30 and 3600.

•The recommended default value specifies 30.

d. Maximum No. of Files—Specifies the maximum number of files before the file count restarts and overwrites the old files:

•The value ranges between 1 and 10000.

•The recommended default value specifies 250.

e. Maximum No. of Lines per File—Specifies the maximum number of lines in each file before starting the next file:

•The value ranges between 100 and 2000.

•The recommended default value specifies 2000.

Step 6 To configure a secure TLS connection to CTI, configure the following service parameters.

a. CAPF Profile Instance ID for Secure Connection to CTI Manager—Specifies the Instance ID of the Application CAPF Profile for application user CCMQRTSysUser that the Cisco Extended Function service will use to open a secure connection to CTI Manager. You must configure this parameter if CTI Manager Connection Security Flag is enabled.

Note Remember to turn on security by enabling the CTI Manager Connection Security Flag service parameter. You must restart the Cisco Extended Functions service for the changes to take effect.

Using the QRT Viewer

You can use the QRT Viewer to view the IP phone problem reports that the Quality Report Tool generates. The QRT Viewer allows you to filter, format, and view the tool-generated phone problem reports, so they provide you with the specific information that you need.

•To view the QRT Viewer application, you need to install the Cisco Real-Time Monitoring Tool (RTMT) plug-in, which includes the trace collection feature.

•The trace collection feature enables collection and viewing of log files; the QRT Viewer is included with the trace collection feature.

•You can use the client application on Windows- or non-Windows-based operating systems.

QRT Reports

QRT collects information from various sources, such as the source IP phone, the destination IP phone, the Cisco RIS Data Collector, Cisco Unified Communications Manager, and the user. (The system does not collect information from gateways or other devices.) "Source" and "destination" in this case, do not refer to the calling party and called party in a connected call.

Note Refer to the QRT Viewer chapter in the Cisco Unified Serviceability Administration Guide for additional information about QRT reports.

The following list provides information, segmented by information source, about the QRT report fields.

Information Collected from the Source Device

•Directory number of source device (in the case of multiline devices, the information shows only the first primary directory number)

Note The number of samples that are collected for packets, jitter, packets lost, and so on, depends on the sampling duration and polling frequency. The streaming information gets collected only one time per call. For example, if phone A called phone B and both phone A and phone B submit multiple reports for the same call, only the first report includes the streaming data. Also, for the "Problems with last call" category, these values might reflect only the last snapshot of the streaming statistics that are stored in the phone device.

Information Collected from the Destination Device

The system collects the following information if the destination device is a supported Cisco Unified IP Phone within same Cisco Unified Communications Manager cluster. If the destination device is not an IP phone, the information includes only IP address, device name, and device type.

•Directory number of destination device (in the case of multiline devices, the information shows only the first primary directory number)

•Destination device type (for example, CP-7960, CP-7940)

•Destination codec

•Destination packets

•Destination rcvr packets

•Destination rcvr jitter

•Destination rcvr packet lost

•Destination sampling timestamp (Implicit)

Note The number of samples that are collected for packets, jitter, packets lost, and so on, depends on the sampling duration and polling frequency. The streaming information gets collected only one time per call. For example, if phone A called phone B and both phone A and phone B submit multiple reports for the same call, only the first report includes the streaming data that is included. QRT attempts to collect the information from the destination IP phone only for the "Problems with current call" category.

Information Collected from RIS Data Collector

•Source device owner (user name that is currently logged in to the IP phone; if no explicitly logged-in user exists, this field specifies null)

•CallingPartyNumber (the party who placed the call; for transferred calls, the transferred party becomes the calling party)

•OriginalCalledPartyNumber (the original-called party after any digit translations occurred)

•FinalCalledPartyNumber (for forwarded calls, this specifies the last party to receive the call; for non-forwarded calls, this field specifies the original called party)

•LastRedirectDn (for forwarded calls, this field specifies the last party to redirect the call; for non-forwarded calls, this field specifies the last party to redirect, via transfer or conference, the call)

•globalCallID_callManagerId (this field distinguishes the call for CDR Analysis and Reporting (CAR))

The Trace and Alarm tools work together. You can configure trace and alarm settings for Cisco CallManager services and direct alarms to local Syslogs or system diagnostic interface (SDI) log files. (SDI log files are viewable in text format only.)

You can set up traces for Cisco CallManager services on debug levels, specific trace fields, and Cisco Unified Communications Manager devices such as phones or gateways. You can also perform a trace on the alarms that are sent to the SDI trace log files.

Use the trace collection feature to collect trace files and to analyze trace data for troubleshooting problems. (The trace collection feature includes the QRT Viewer.)

The following examples provide some common problems and recommended actions when troubleshooting scenarios for QRT:

Problem The QRT softkey is not available.

Solution Ensure that you have created, configured, and assigned the softkey template to enable the QRT feature.

Problem The QRT softkey is not working.

Solution Ensure that the Cisco Extended Functions service, the Cisco CallManager service, the Cisco CTIManager service, and the Cisco RIS Data Collector service are operational.

Problem The QRT report does not include data.

Solution The system collects data from various sources, such as the user, source IP phone, destination IP phone, RIS Data Collector, Cisco Unified Communications Manager, and Cisco Unified Communications Manager databases. Check to make sure that the destination device is a supported IP phone and not a gateway or other unsupported device; otherwise, the system does not collect data from the destination device.